Safety movement

Carrie Kirschner/The Independent

Ashland September 01, 2006 12:03 am

— Poage Elementary School Principal Bob Blankenship is on a mission to do whatever it takes to get his students and their parents to buckle up.
In the past he’s tried a variety of other tactics, including giving movie bucks and PTA gifts to randomly selected vehicles of buckled students and parents and posting signs. This year, however, he’s taken a different approach — a daily dancing reminder.
Similar to the infamous Little Caesar’s Pizza employee each afternoon, one student from Poage’s Safety Patrol dons a reflective safety belt, a school-owned iPod and a 2-foot-sign that reads: “R U Buckled?” and breaks it down for traffic.
“I drove by one day and I saw the pizza guy out there with the sign,” Blankenship said.
“I thought everyone looks at that guy. I thought maybe that’s what we need to do; put someone out there with a sign to draw their attention to remind them to buckle up.”
Blankenship said he hopes the sign will help condition the children to buckle up. The hope, he said, is that “they’ll buckle up before leaving the lot without ever thinking about it. If we can get the kids to buckle up without the parents telling them, that’s the goal.”
So far the tactic is getting a good response from students and adults.
Sixth-grader Jamaka Williams, a co-captain of the safety patrol, was Monday’s and Tuesday’s dancer.
“I like the dancing,” she said. “Once people come by and see the sign they always buckle up. Sometimes they give me an OK or a thumbs-up — a sign they’re buckled up.”
Williams said she is happy to be a part of the seat-belt campaign. “It feels good helping other students. I wanted to join (safety patrol) because I knew I was helping somebody.”
Helping her fellow students to remember to fasten their belts is “important because if they’re not wearing their seat belts, they could get into a crash and go through the windshield or get a serious injury,” she said.
Fellow safety co-captain and sixth-grader Chris Dudley agreed.
“I think it’s a good idea to help parents and students be safe when they’re driving,” he said.
“It’s just really important that people are safe,” added Jeremy Jackson, another sixth-grade safety patrol member.
Kindergarten teacher Betsy Moore, who is the safety patrol sponsor, said her students are very enthusiastic about participating in the program. There are 35 safety patrol students who rotate duties weekly, she said.
“They are so excited,” Moore said. “They all know who the little Caesar’s guy is. They are just excited about it.
“I think it’s such a cute idea. Bob has been on some type of seat-belt mission forever.”
Ashland Police Sgt. Mark McDowell, who recently took over as safety patrol director, said “the concept is really unique. It is an attention getter and hopefully it will make people stop and think ‘Hey, click it.’”
McDowell said he hopes the program will not only remind Poage parents and students to buckle up but motivate other schools to implement similar programs.
Beginning Jan. 1, nonseat-belt usage will become a primary offense, McDowell said, meaning officers and stop and cite drivers for not wearing their seat belts or the failure of their passengers to do so.
CARRIE KIRSCHNER can be reached at ckirschner@dailyindependent.com or (606) 326-2653.